Imagine if you could look at a hillside and say, “That spot will wash away next year if we don’t protect it.” That’s exactly what Makhosane Morapeli, a Computer Systems student graduating with first-class from the National University of Lesotho (NUL) has made possible. He created a computer tool that can look at the land, study its secrets, and show us where the soil might disappear in the future.
____________
Brought to You by NUL Innovation Hub; Where Academia Meets Industry

Makhosane didn’t do this alone. He was guided by three supervisors—Mr. Khobatha Setetemela, Mr. Mphatsi Lebajoa, and Mr. Jane Mothobi. He also got important support from the Faculty of Agriculture and Department of Geography at NUL. It was teamwork across fields: computers, farming, and geography all working together.

Here’s how it does its trick.

First, the tool collects “ingredients” from maps and satellites up in space. These satellites take pictures of our land and record important details like rain, plants, and slopes. The tool mixes all this information using a recipe that soil scientists have trusted for many years. That recipe is called RUSLE (it’s a long name, but think of it as a soil calculator).

The recipe looks at five main things:

1. Rainfall intensity – How hard is the rain pounding the ground? A gentle drizzle is fine, but heavy drops can hit like tiny hammers, breaking up soil.
2. Soil type – Is the soil sandy, clay, or loamy? Some soils are tough and sticky; others are crumbly and easy to carry away.
3. Slope steepness – Water on a flat field moves slowly. But on a steep mountain, water rushes down like a race car, dragging soil with it.
4. Plant cover – Grass, trees, and crops are like shields. Their roots tie the soil together, and their leaves soften the blow of raindrops.
5. Farming practices – Terraces, contour ploughing, and other methods can slow down water and give the soil a chance to rest.

Scientists usually use this recipe to measure how much soil was lost in the past. That’s useful, but it’s like always looking in the rearview mirror. Makhosane wanted more. He wanted to look through the windshield and see ahead.

So, here’s the genius part: the tool doesn’t stop at yesterday. It studies patterns from all that data—rainfall, slopes, plants, soils—and learns what usually happens next. Then it paints a picture of the land, showing which parts are safe and which parts are at risk.

And you can see it all on a computer screen!

The tool is set up as a web app, which is just a program you can open online. A farmer, a teacher, or even a chief could log in, click on their village or fields, and pick a year—maybe this year, or even 2030. Instantly, a colourful map pops up:

• Green areas mean the land is safe.
• Orange means it’s shaky.
• Red means the soil is in real danger.

Not only that, but the tool also prints out easy reports with pictures and charts. You don’t need to be a scientist to understand them.

As Makhosane says, “The best part is the forecast. It’s a warning. You see the weak spot before the storm hits, so you can protect it.” He also shared that field tests are now being conducted to check how well the predictions and estimates match what really happens on the ground. “It’s exciting to see the maps being compared with real erosion sites,” he added.

Why is this such a big deal? Because soil erosion is a serious problem in Lesotho. Every rainy season, rich topsoil is washed away. Farmers lose the very ground they plant on. Rivers and dams fill with mud. Wetlands that should filter water get choked with silt. More than 30% of wetlands in Lesotho are already damaged. Even huge projects like the Lesotho Highlands Water Project are threatened because reservoirs slowly fill up with sand and soil.

Now imagine if we could know ahead of time which hillsides will crumble, which fields will wash away, and which wetlands will clog. We could act early. We could plant grass where it’s needed, build terraces on the worst slopes, and protect rivers before they get choked.

That’s the promise of this tool. It turns erosion from a surprise into something we can plan for.

Of course, the tool is still learning. Sometimes it has to guess, especially about farming methods, because it can’t know exactly what every farmer is doing on every field. And right now, it doesn’t send an alert to your phone the moment a hillside starts slipping. But the foundation is there. With better data and more testing, it could grow into a national early warning system—a shield for the whole country.

Great news is that Morapeli is kind of a nerd. For such a demanding course, he is graduating with First Class, a rare achievement!
____________
Brought to You by NUL Innovation Hub; Where Academia Meets Industry